As US Pressure Mounts for Ukraine Elections, Kyiv Sanctions Ex-President

Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko gestures while speaking to his supporters upon his arrival at Zhuliany International Airport outside Kyiv, Ukraine, on Jan. 17, 2022. Efrem Lukatsky/AP Photo

Kyiv has imposed sanctions on Petro Poroshenko, an opposition politician and former president, for reasons of “national security,” according to Ukraine’s SBU spy agency.

The move follows calls by Washington for Ukraine to hold presidential elections—in which Poroshenko could be a contender—after an almost six-year hiatus.

The SBU announced the sanctions on Poroshenko last week, attributing the decision to “existing threats to [the] national security, territorial integrity, and sovereignty of Ukraine.”

In a video statement, Poroshenko, who served as Ukraine’s president from 2014 to 2019, decried the move as “unconstitutional” and “politically motivated.”

Sanctions imposed on Poroshenko reportedly include an asset freeze and a ban on withdrawing funds from the country.

A confectionary magnate and one of Ukraine’s wealthiest people, Poroshenko, 59, leads a sizeable opposition bloc in Ukraine’s Parliament.

In 2019, he failed to secure a second term in office after losing a presidential race to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s current president.

In his video message, Poroshenko appeared to blame his successor for the sanctions imposed on him, accusing Zelenskyy of striking a “colossal blow” against Ukraine’s “internal unity.”

Zelenskyy, whose presidential term expired almost one year ago, said in a video address that “anyone who has undermined Ukraine’s national security and helped Russia must be held accountable.”

He did not, however, refer to Poroshenko by name.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attends a press conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Jan. 8, 2025. Alina Smutko/Reuters

Martial Law

In early 2022, Kyiv declared martial law after Russia invaded large swaths of eastern Ukraine, four regions of which it later effectively annexed.

Since then, Ukraine’s Parliament, in which Zelenskyy’s “Servant of the People” party wields a majority, has kept martial law in effect.

In early February, Zelenskyy signed a decree extending the state of martial law for another three-month period ending May 9.

Zelenskyy’s five-year term officially expired in May 2024. New presidential and parliamentary polls were originally slated to be held in March 2024.

But in late 2023, Zelenskyy announced that elections would be indefinitely postponed, citing the ongoing state of martial law and the conflict with Russia.

According to officials in Kyiv, legislation prohibits presidential and parliamentary polls from being held as long as the country remains under martial law.

Since the polls were postponed almost one year ago, Moscow has repeatedly questioned Zelenskyy’s presidential legitimacy.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that the issue of Zelenskyy’s legitimacy—or lack thereof—could affect the eventual signing of a Russia–Ukraine peace treaty.

“If it gets to that point, we will need to understand who we should deal with when signing legally binding documents,” Putin said after the scheduled polls were called off.

In July 2024, a Kremlin spokesman reiterated Moscow’s concerns.

“From a legal point of view, this issue [of Zelenskyy’s presidential legitimacy] has to be dealt with,” he said when asked about the prospects of holding talks with Kyiv.

Zelenskyy has largely dismissed these concerns until now, telling reporters last summer that his legitimacy was recognized by “the people of Ukraine.”

Over the past year, Kyiv’s Western supporters have also appeared to voice understanding for Zelenskyy’s electoral predicament.

When the polls were postponed last year, a U.S. State Department spokesman said that Washington hoped to “see presidential elections—and all elections—in Ukraine.”

“But we recognize this is difficult in the middle of a war,” he said. “Ultimately, these are questions for the Ukrainian people to decide.”

Gen. Keith Kellogg, U.S. special envoy for Ukraine, participates in the panel discussion 'Peace through Strength–A Plan for Ukraine' at the 61st Munich Security Conference in Germany on Feb. 15, 2025. Johannes Simon/Getty Images

Envoy: Polls ‘Need to Be Done’

Since U.S. President Donald Trump returned to the White House last month, however, Washington’s stance on the issue appears to have changed.

Earlier this month, U.S. administration officials began to suggest that elections, both for Parliament and the presidency, should be held before the end of the year.

On Feb. 1, Gen. Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special envoy for Russia and Ukraine, said in an interview with Reuters that Ukrainian elections “need to be done.”

“Most democratic nations have elections in their time of war,” he said. “I think it is important they do so.

“I think it is good for democracy. That’s the beauty of a solid democracy—you have more than one person potentially running.”

In a Feb. 6 interview with Newsmax, Kellogg reiterated the administration’s position.

“You’re going to reach a point where they are going to have to have elections,” he said.

Speaking at a high-profile security conference in Munich on Feb. 15, Zelenskyy said he was “open to discussing elections.”

However, he said Ukrainians “oppose” such a move and said they feared that elections would be exploited by Russia to seize more territory.

Nevertheless, on Feb. 17, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency quoted Poroshenko as saying that presidential, parliamentary, and local polls would likely be held in October.

Poroshenko cited unnamed sources in several Ukrainian government agencies to support his assertion, which The Epoch Times could not independently verify.

In remarks to the media in April 2024, Poroshenko said that he hoped to run for the presidency again, but only after the conflict with Russia is over.

Reuters contributed to this report.